The Montana fluvial arctic grayling once again will be considered for protection under the Endangered Species Act, according to settlement papers filed in federal court in Billings Wednesday, with a decision to be made by Aug. 30, 2010.

The decision is the latest step in a long, drawn-out battle to list the species, which started in 1982, when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agreed that the Montana fluvial arctic grayling was possibly endangered or threatened, but said enough data wasn't available to biologically support a proposed rule.

By 1994, a study had identified threats to the grayling, including reduction in historical range, dewatering of streams, competition or predation by non-native fish, and habitat degradation. Due to those threats the USFWS agreed that listing of the Montana grayling was "warranted," but "precluded by other higher priority listing actions," according to the settlement document, and in 2004, the status was reaffirmed.

However, the Bush administration denied the grayling protection in 2007. The decision apparently was one of those influenced by former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Fish, Wildlife and Parks Julie MacDonald, who resigned after an investigation by the Interior Department's inspector general found she had bullied agency scientists to change their conclusions and improperly released internal documents to industry lobbyists and attorneys.

In 2007, the Center for Biological Diversity, along with the Federation of Fly Fishers, Western Watersheds Project, Pat Munday and George Wuerthner filed a lawsuit challenging the Bush Administration's decision.

In response to litigation, the Obama administration has agreed to reconsider about 25 decisions by the Bush administration denying species protection or limiting the amount of designated critical habitat.

Along with agreeing to review the listing decision, the federal government agreed to pay the plaintiff's legal fees of $27,000. Both parties have asked the federal court to dismiss the case.

"The Montana fluvial arctic grayling is on the brink of extinction," said Noah Greenwald, endangered species program director at the Center for Biological Diversity. "We hope the Obama administration will put an end to the grayling's 27-year wait for protection."

Officials with the USFWS couldn't be reached for comment late Wednesday.

A member of the salmon family, fluvial arctic graylings were once found in the lower 48 states only in Michigan and throughout the upper Missouri River drainage above Great Falls, but it now has only a single self-sustaining population in a short stretch of the Big Hole River. Studies show that the Montana fluvial arctic grayling is genetically distinct from populations in Canada and Alaska, and genetically and behaviorally distinct from grayling lake populations in Montana and other states.

The plaintiffs say the main reason for the loss of the fluvial arctic grayling is due to the dewatering of its stream habitat and degradation of riparian areas.

They add that extensive water withdrawals from the Big Hole River and seven consecutive years of drought continue to threaten the Big Hole population and that in recent years, so few grayling have been found that Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks have not been able to estimate their populations.

"During the many years of delay of protection, the grayling's status has only gotten worse," said Munday, a Butte resident and director of the Grayling Restoration Alliance. "If the last river-dwelling population of the grayling in the continental U.S. is to survive, further action must be taken to reduce water withdrawals from the Big Hole River."

The settlement states that on or before Dec. 31, the USFWS shall submit a notice to the Federal Register for publication seeking public comment on the status of the upper Missouri River Arctic grayling, and will submit a new 12-month finding to the Federal Register by Aug. 30, 2010.

"The grayling is a unique part of the natural heritage of Montana," said Leah Elwell, conservation coordinator for the Federation of Fly Fishers. "Loss of the grayling would be a terrible tragedy for anglers, Montanans and the nation."

Eve Byron: 447-4076 or eve.byron@helenair.com